If I Can't Love Her
by becauseimbatman7
Summary: Prince Edward is spoiled and unkind but his father holds a ball for him to find a wife. Too bad his words and actions leave him as a member of the undead, as well as all who attended the ball. He must find love by his 25th birthday, or he and everyone else are doomed. For who could ever learn to love a vampire? (Formerly known as Beauty and the Vampire)
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince whose name was Edward.

He had everything he ever wanted, but his father wanted him to have all the luxuries of this life, so he proposed to Edward that their family have a massive ball, where every woman was welcome, wealthy or not.

Edward, sure that he could attract the affections of the Princess Rosalie, agreed to this. She alone was worthy in his eyes, because of her beauty, and because of her wealthy royal family. He didn't consider that Rosalie was just as ugly on the inside as he, and so when the time came for the ball, women from everywhere came.

Princess after princess came and bowed before him, gesturing that they have a dance with him, as well as those of lesser wealth and beauty.

He of course, turned them all away with a wave of his hand.

As the last woman approached, he looked at her with distain. "Who is this dreadful thing?" He snarled to his father, who hissed to him about manners.

The woman, poisoned by his words, revealed herself to be none other than Princess Rosalie. What Edward didn't know was that she was also an enchantress, and revealed her wand to the entire ball.

"Because you have offended me in such a curt manner, I shall present you with a gift," Rosalie paused, and looked around the room. "In fact, your entire village shall also receive this gift."

Edward looked at her with even more distain. "And what is this gift, exactly?"

Princess Rosalie smiled sweetly, and looking around the room, said, "You shall be cursed. Your town and fellow royalties shall all become cursed to roam in the sunlight as black skeletons with evil red eyes," she said, amused now at the horror on everyone's faces.

"As for you, Prince Edward, you shall become a monstrous beast - a walking dead monster who thirsts for blood and feeds off the living, never seeing the sun," Rosalie continued. It was only now that Edward understood the implications of his actions.

He tried and tried to apologize, but it was too late, for Rosalie was too far offended and saw that no good would come from his pleas.

Abruptly, his skin turned white as snow, and his throat burned with what seemed to be fire. As for all the guests, they were immediately turned to the walking undead, and screamed at each other in horror.

As they all left for their kingdoms and the nearby village in shame, Rosalie, determined to see that Edward learned his lesson told him calmly, "You must find someone to love you and that you can love in return by your 25th birthday, or you will stay like this forever."

Edward, ashamed, marched away to his chambers and turned to see himself in the mirror, but there was no one staring back at him. He grabbed some trinket off his dresser and threw it at the mirror, shattering it.

For who could ever learn to love a vampire?


	2. Chapter 2

1.

There was one young woman, pure of heart, that loved her mother very much. She was always kind and all those who knew her loved her dearly. Her name was Bella Swan.

Her father had died when she was a little girl, working himself to death on their carriage. He had a heart attack and left them poor and destitute. Bella, determined to keep her mother well and healthy, had taken up much of the house work. She would work and work, but her mother was proud of the woman Bella had grown into.

They happened to live in a village far from Edward's kingdom, and so Bella grew up hearing rumors of this prince that had become such a monster, but she never laughed or made light of the tale - for she believed that there was a lesson to be learned in every story told.

If anything, she felt sorry for the prince and the nearby village and kingdoms.

She also grew very beautiful as she got older. So beautiful that she rivaled Princess Rosalie's beauty. The princess, however, convinced that Bella would never find this kingdom of Edward's, left her alone to do her silly house work.

And as it was, Rosalie was convinced that even pure hearted Bella would sneer at the sight of a vampire and his kingdom of undead skeletons.

After all, fairy tales followed the living…but curses followed the dead. And since Edward was now an undead leader he would stay that way - Rosalie would make sure of it.

"Bella!" Her mother called from upstairs.

"Coming," Bella ran up the stairs and looked all over before finding her mother, in her bed, looking sickly. She had noticed that her mother was growing older and more tired lately, but she hadn't wanted to say anything, for fear that it would just worsen her mother's condition.

"Mother, what is it?" She walked over to the bed, taking her mother's hand.

"There's not much time." Her mother smiled weakly.

A tear dropped down Bella's face.

"I just wanted to give my best girl something," Her mother replied. She looked down at the drawer next to her bed, and opened it with her hand. Delicately, she took out what looked like a wrapped up mirror.

Unwrapping it, she looked up at Bella and told her, "This is a mirror that is enchanted with powers. Whoever looks in it, will see themselves for what they really are." She leaned in and whispered to her daughter, "Take this to the mountains, where the once proud prince lives. You must help him see himself again in this mirror, Bella. Only then will the spell be broken."

Bella, curious that her mother would want to help the poor prince, asked, "But why me?"

"My dear Bella, you are kind and compassionate. Surely you must feel pity for the prince?" She searched her daughters face.

Bella tightened her grip on her mothers hand and said simply, "Yes, I will." Then she reached up and kissed her mother's forehead, and looked down to find that her mother had passed on.

She had never cried harder than she did that night.


	3. Chapter 3

2.

The following day Bella was greeted by the town's villagers who consoled her about her mother. Bella made them promise they would give her mother a proper burial, even though she could not be there. They all swore they would and noticed that she had packed a bag, and was wearing her traveling boots and coat.

"Where are you off to, Bella?" Jacob, the town baker, asked.

"I'm going on a little trip to the mountains, there's something I promised my mother I would do," Bella replied.

Jacob looked at her gravely. "I'm sorry to hear of your mother's passing, but why would you travel to those mountains - and alone?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," Bella said, getting on her horse.

"Well then, best of luck to you. I know those mountains - I used to travel there with my father when I was younger, before rumors of the curse, you know. Just be sure to be on your guard."

"I promise," she vowed.

"Be off with ya then," he smiled.

The woods seemed to crawl with a quiet that Bella had only heard in graveyards. An owl would hoot or a branch would snap beneath her, but her trusted horse travelled on. They would climb hills and each night, take a break and camp.

Bella would look up at the moon and wonder how the prince came to be cursed. Little did she know of Rosalie, or that at that very moment she was being watched by the vain enchantress.

Rosalie's attention was drawn to Bella because she was very much curious as to how she could possibly think that she could break Rosalie's curse, after all, she was just a foolish villager who was lucky enough to be on the other side of the mountain when all those other kingdoms and villagers were cursed. And Rosalie knew in her heart: Bella was very beautiful.

Soon, Bella knew exactly where she was. She shook all over with fright as she and her horse entered what seemed to be a deserted town. But every now and then, red fiery eyes would peek out of a corner or she would see what appeared to be a skeleton carrying a pitcher of water off somewhere.

They knew she was foreign…but just how far had this young woman travelled to be among the undead?


	4. Chapter 4

3.

Bella glanced around at her surroundings. Even though she desperately wanted to turn back, she new that her mother's words had been right. It would take a kind, forgiving person to make the Prince whole again.

She climbed off her horse and saw the red eyes started to peek from everywhere now.

Even though they gave her chills, she could see the sadness in the little boys and girls. It was almost like they had forgotten to feed themselves and were walking ghosts with no where to go. From the corner she saw a little undead girl approaching her, her dress dirty with grime.

Bella bent town with tears in her eyes, wondering what kind of monster would do this?

Then, the girl started to speak. "Have you come to save us? Or are you here from _her_ to make our lives more miserable?"

Bella whispered, a soft breeze carrying her words, "I have come to make the Prince whole again."

Two more nights passed, and the undead townspeople started to come out to see if it was true - if there really was a woman in the village that had flesh and muscles. They grew to like her, as she looked at none of them with pity, but respect. To her, it was like they were human again.

Hope began to run through the village, and soon, other kingdoms that had attended the ball heard of her too.

Rosalie, however, was always in her study with her own magic mirror that told her whatever she wanted to know, and she started to check up on Bella often. Even though she was still convinced that Bella would fail in her mission, she started to grow jealous of Bella's beauty when one day, the mirror told her that Bella had surpassed her in beauty.

Bella finally arrived at the castle, and there were words written on the front gf the gates. She scanned over them, reading, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Something about the saying was familiar so she red them out loud again, and the gates opened slowly, with a long screech.

She looked up at the window, there seemed to be lights on, but no sign of the Prince. She did see many of his servants though, which gave her hope.

As Bella knocked on the large wooden doors of the castle, she heard voices inside. "Who could that possibly be? We haven't had visitors for 3 years."

"Surely you're not complaining now," another voice replied. "Answer the door."

A dark skeleton with those same sad eyes stepped out and closed the door behind looked her over before saying, "If you're looking for the county fair, it's to the north of here." He had on what appeared to be a butlers suit.

"Pardon me, but does the Prince live here?"

The butler chuckled. "It seems you really are lost, no prince charming ives in this castle."

Bella was starting to grow angry. "I'm here for the Prince who was cursed, and you are obviously the right bunch."

"Very well," the butler replied. "But don't say I didn't warn you when he tries to drain you of all life."

"What do you mean? I thought he was just cursed the same as the rest of you."

"No my dear, Prince Edward was punished to be a vampire."

She blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

4.

Rosalie watched the conversation with curiosity in front of her mirror - ha! Of course - she had forgotten what vampires were capable of, and she laughed to herself at the thought that as soon as the silly girl entered the castle, Edward would smell her blood and drain her dry.

Soon, she grew bored of watching the servants carry the girl inside, and went back to her other spells.

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Bella woke with a start, and sat up, looking around her. There were undead doing all sorts of things, one wheeling over a cart to her that carried hot tea. She looked up at the woman skeleton, and saw that she had black spiked hair.

Trying to be gentle, Bella looked her over as the skeleton turned away in shame. "No, please. Don't go, I know of your plight and I wish to help. What is your name?"

The woman turned back, her eyes cast down and replied, "Alice, my name is Alice."

"Well, Alice - that's a lovely dress you have on."

Shocked that this girl would give an undead creature like her any sort of compliment, she shyly looked back at Bella. "Thank you. The butler who answered the door didn't mean to come off as rude, he's - we've all just lost all hope. He's my husband, Jasper."

Bella nodded and drank her tea. "This is very good."

"Why would you dare to come here? And to help Prince Edward no less?"

"Alice, I believe everyone has some good in them even if they have to first be given a burden to find it."

Alice seemed to arch her skull. "You really do want to help us? I don't see how it's possible, Edward is a vampire - just as Jasper said. He's been living off animals for so long, I don't think it would be wise of him to be around a human."

"We'll see," Bella sighed and started to put the things back on the cart.

"Let me, it's the only job I've had in years. We can't eat, we can't sleep, nothing."

Bella nodded. "I understand. I hope over time, you will come to see me as more than just a stranger in your castle."

"Oh but you're more than that, you're our guest!"

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Bella wandered the halls, opening each door to see what could be on the other side. She had never been in such a large place, let alone a castle. As she opened one door, she was astonished. There, before her was a ballroom!

She entered, her toes tip toeing across the floor till she reached the middle. She looked up at the chandeliers and the beautiful paintings on the ceiling. As she looked all around, she saw a painting of a young man, handsome and proud looking in it.

"Who is this?" She wondered out loud.

"I think the proper question is, who are you?" A bitter, deep voice answered.


	6. Chapter 6

5.

Bella, startled, turned around as slow as possible. She started to shake a little, and when she looked up, there stood a ghostly white face, his fangs trying to close. He too shook, not out of fear, but out of anger and thirst.

He had never smelled something so lovely.

He had also never beheld someone who was so beautiful. He was entranced, she was even more lovely than Princess Rosalie had been. But he was enraged that his servants had kept her a secret from him.

"What are you staring at?" He snarled.

"A man who has fallen and needs help getting up," Bella finally said, finding her voice.

He laughed and turned away. "Haven't you heard, _girl_ , I am no man."

She didn't laugh, instead carefully coming up behind him. "You think that because you have lost hope, but you can become one again." She pulled out the enchanted mirror and showed it to him, saying, "Look and tell me what you see."

He stared into the empty mirror, seeing nothing. "Have you come to torture me?! Do you think I'm a fool?!" He practically shouted at her, and she flinched a tad.

"I don't understand, tell me what you saw."

"NOTHING! I SEE NOTHING WHEN I LOOK IN ANY MIRROR! THAT'S WHAT VAMPIRES ARE!" He screamed.

Bella was taken back, until she remembered her mother's words. _"The mirror shows you who you truly are."_

It came to her then. He needed _love._ But how was she supposed to give someone love who had never known it?


	7. Chapter 7

**I should have said this a while ago, but I don't own either Twilight or the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast. You should know, there will be no Emmett in this story, as Rosalie is the villain. And for those wondering, Rosalie dressed as a poor woman because she knew Edward just wanted to marry her for her gold. So she was already ready to punish him.**

6.

After he screamed and shouted for what seemed like forever, Bella had finally fled the ballroom in tears. She rushed up to the guest room that they had put her in and cried herself to sleep. Edward, feeling just as ashamed if not more so than he had when he had offended Rosalie, took this to heart.

She had been brave when even his servants could barely look in his direction. She had even tried to be…kind. Maybe there was more to this young woman that he hadn't thought of. Even the villagers and other kingdoms had tried to break the curse by making him fall in love.

But he couldn't fall in love. A monster like him, it wasn't like he hadn't tried. But the curse was on everyone, not just him, and so falling in love with anyone else from the kingdoms or villages wouldn't have worked.

How far had this woman travelled anyway? And surely she hadn't come to truly break the curse. If anything, she looked poor. Maybe she was just there for money…

He scanned the painting of himself that she had looked at and in a fit of rage, slashed it in half.

She would never see him as anything other than a vampire, every mirror proved it.

It was hopeless.

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Alice sat down next to Bella, and tenderly touched her, expecting Bella to flinch or even tear her hand away. But Bella did neither, and the dead heart in Alice's chest warmed. "He didn't mean it," Alice tried to say, but Bella shook her head.

"Yes, he did, that's the problem. He looked at me as though I was just something to eat. There really is no love in his heart. Maybe this mirror isn't enchanted after all." She took out the mirror from her pocket and handed it to Alice.

Alice delicately picked up the mirror, sadly looking into it before jumping up on the bed a bit. "Bella! I'm human!"

Bella glanced up at her new friend and said, "No, I'm pretty sure you're still a skeleton."

Alice tugged at her friend, as one boney hand drew down her face. "But it must be enchanted then, because this mirror shows me as myself - as I was as a human," Alice insisted.

Bella shot straight up and looked behind her friend into the mirror. Sure enough, there was a young woman with dark spikes hair and rosy cheeks, a lovely smile covering her features - her eyes were gray instead of red.

Bella smiled brilliantly at Alice but then sat down again in thought. "I don't understand, how could Edward not see himself in the mirror - even as-"

"You just answered your own question," Alice told her. "He's cursed to be a vampire - they have no reflections, haven't you heard any horror story ever?"

"Oh! Of course - that makes sense! Edward still needs love," Bella replied with excitement.

Alice told her solemnly, "But it wouldn't be enough even if you could love him, he would have to love you in return, and that's not something the Prince is capable of."

Bella thought again for a moment, and Alice took her hands within her own boney ones. "Make him love you, Bella. You're sweet and kind, you look past me and see me - the real me. But Edward needs to learn how to see into people that way still."


	8. Chapter 8

7.

Edward watched as Bella walked through out the castle, offering her help with cleaning and other such chores. She had even offered to sweep the huge ballroom that they had come face to face in.

She didn't speak to him, as he expected, but she interacted with Jasper and Alice, and even the king, calling him by "Your Majesty," even though he insisted on Carlisle like he did with everyone else. The king was disappointed in his son, more than ever before after he heard how he had treated their new guest.

So to avoid her, Edward would go out deep into the woods to hunt deer. He couldn't take the chance that he might try to drain her neck. After all, she was giving them all so much hope, even if she couldn't see him as anything but a monster, he could not take the hope away from all the kingdoms and every village.

That was another thing. She wore the same blue dress everywhere she went - even when the servants offered her jewelry and fancy ball dresses that a princess would wear, she would turn each and every one of them down.

He had been wrong about her - she didn't wish for petty things that he had once demanded. She was happy to just be. When she had the time, she would feed her horse and ride him proudly around the castle, but the horse dared not approach the servants for fear of their looks.

Also, he often watched her through the windows of his destroyed room and see her reading fairytales to the children of the village. She was not only kind to all who met her and talked to her, but she proved she could raise a good family…

Edward turned to himself, shocked at the last thought. He had never before wanted children, even when his father insisted they hold that ball.

Really the only reason Edward had agreed to the ball in the first place was because of that witch Rosalie.

How careless and foolish he had been! He now knew what true beauty looked like, and it was just within his grasp - if only she would acknowledge him again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Bella," the queen, Esme, approached her.

"Yes, your highness?"

"Prince Edward seems…different. He, well…he wanted me to ask you if-"

"Pardon me, your highness, but if the prince wishes to talk to me, then just send him in!"

Esme clapped her hands together, making a cracking sound. But she was no longer scared of Bella's reaction, because Bella had proven to everyone - even the villagers, of her kindness.

Why, other princes and princesses came from nearby to get to know the sweet woman they had heard so much about.

"I'll go get him right away," Esme replied.

Edward, holding his breath, came in without even pausing. He beheld her for a long moment and then said, "I wanted to apologize for my behavior the first day we met. It's taken some time for me to get to this point, as you may have guessed…."

"And…?" Bella prompted.

Edward stuttered a bit before saying, "I was wondering if you might join me in the ballroom for a dance?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Rosalie had taken to checking up on her favorite vampire again, and she did not like what she saw. The curse was supposed to be permanent - she had only made the exception to give them false hope. And even with Edward's 25th birthday coming up, she didn't want to take _any_ chances.


	9. Chapter 9

8.

"Hold still, Bella!" Alice laughed, her skeletal hands fluffing out a beautiful white and gold gown around Bella's feet.

"I'm nervous, can you believe it? He actually asked me to a dance! And in that beautiful ballroom. Do you think he's just being polite?"

Alice bellowed out a laugh. "Edward has never been polite to anyone, my dear. Let alone asked them to a dance, I'm telling you, there's something there. Some spark that even the king and queen see in him."

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Edward fidgeted with his dress robes. "What if she changes her mind?"

"You tell me, since you know everything, son."

Edward looked down, drained of happiness. "I'm sorry I've been such a disappointment to you and mom. I must have been…unbearable to be around."

Carlisle looked his son over and hugged him. "It wasn't all you, Edward. We could have done some things differently too. If anything, I owe you the apology."

Edward's mouth opened in shock. "But what for? You were only ever good parents to me."

Carlisle couldn't smile, so he just said, "Yes, but when we were busy being too good we could have also instilled some values in you. Maybe, if we hadn't all been so busy as spoiled royals we could have ended up more like your Bella."

"My Bella," Edward smiled, leaving his bedroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rosalie's carriage pulled up to the castle just in time, and when she got out, _everyone_ gasped and turned away. The guards tried to keep her from entering, but with an evil smile, she made them fall to the ground, paralyzed.

"Sorry boys, but I have some unfinished business to attend to."


	10. Chapter 10

9.

Edward met Bella at the bottom of the stairs, and took her hand in his. Leading her out to the middle of the ballroom, they began to glide around the room. Both were all smiles until Bella looked over at the painting and noticed the huge gash in it.

She glanced up at Edward, who was looking at her with such sadness in his eyes.

"Why would you do this to your own painting?" She asked gently.

He held her face with one hand, "Because I knew I wasn't worthy of you after that day."

She smiled at him with tears in her eyes, "But you are, you just have to look within yourself. Edward, if you can love at all - love yourself. And that doesn't mean being arrogant or selfish, it means giving the best of yourself to others."

He smiled. "You make me better - you see past the monster, Bella. You chose to look into everyone's heart here, and make them more beautiful in the process."

"Kindness goes miles, Edward. Remember that."

He started to lean in to kiss her but she suddenly had a thought. "What is it?" He asked, concerned.

Alice abruptly appeared and handed her the enchanted mirror. "Look," she said, pointing at the mirror. Edward swallowed, and had just begun to see himself. He gasped, as in the mirror, his reflection stared back at him.

A loud clapping started, and confused, Bella and Edward looked up to see none other than her royal highness, Rosalie Hale. Edward was up in an instant, growling. Bella grabbed him by the arm, and said simply, "Who is this?"

For once, Edward remembered his manners, and presented Rosalie to the entire room of undead, and Bella.

"Oh, no worries. I know exactly who dear Bella is," Rosalie replied. "Wasn't it she who was just fulfilling her wishes to a dead mother, when she came prancing in on her noble steed?"

Everyone around the room started to whisper to themselves if this was true, if they had just been her charity case…

Edward cleared his throat. Bella, desperate to tell them how it started out that way, began to speak. "Yes, yes, I made an oath to my mother to see that the curse be broken - but that doesn't mean that I didn't fall in love with all of you!"

More whispered.

Edward, no longer a young foolish boy, turned to Bella. "All of us? You fell in love with _all_ of us?"

Bella truthfully replied, "Yes. I fell in love with a vampire, too."

Edward turned back to Rosalie, "Please leave, _your highness."_

Rosalie, taken aback at how loyal they all seemed to be to Bella, raised her wand in rage. "You will not love her, Edward."

"If I can't love her, then who?" He replied.

And then, the spell was broken with a clap of thunder running through out the castle. Prince Edward had finally learned to love, and not just anyone, but his very own Bella.

The crowd started to look around and cheer, for they had all been turned back into humans, Edward included. Bella took the mirror from Edward suddenly, and marched up to Rosalie.

"Look in this mirror, and it will show you who you truly are," she dared Rosalie.

Taking the mirror, Rosalie looked, and slowly turned into a old hag, her wand breaking in two. It seemed she finally learned what was within.

As for Prince Edward and Bella, they were immediately married, and finally, Edward told her, "I love you."

"And I you," she answered, kissing him.

For if you can't love anyone, then you can't love yourself. And if you can't love yourself, then you can't love anyone.

 **The End**

 **This little ditty was inspired by the song, "If I Can't Love Her," from the Beauty and the Beast on Broadway soundtrack. Again, i don't own it. I just have fun with it. (I like short and sweet - which is why this was such a short fic, I hope you liked it anyway.)**


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